It'll Be Our Turn, Someday
by chalantness
Summary: AU. Fifteen years later and they're still best friends. She's pretty sure sleeping with Dick because she's drunk and hormonal will put a dent in their dynamic.
1. Part I

**Title: **_It'll Be Our Turn, Someday__  
_**Rating:** NC-17  
**Word Count:** ~6,700 (this chapter)  
**Characters:** Dick/Artemis  
**Summary:** _AU_. Fifteen years later and they're still best friends. She's pretty sure sleeping with Dick because she's drunk and hormonal will put a dent in their dynamic.

**A/N:** I swear the other two parts of this are written already, so they'll be posted in a few days. I'm not going to leave it hanging like "Kept You On Speed Dial After All These Years" /: (Speaking of which, I'll try and get back to that eventually…)

**It'll Be Our Turn, Someday [1/3]**

It's a mistake and she knows it as soon as it's happening.

Before it's happening, actually, because Dick's… well, _Dick_, and she's only human, so maybe she's fantasized about her best friend more than just a few times, but she never let her feelings get anywhere further than that because she wasn't about to ruin one of the only perfect things in her life.

She and Dick have known each other since they were seven and she transferred to Gotham Elementary on a scholarship. She has no idea how a competitive scholarship into a _grade school _even works, but whatever. Somehow she qualified for it and so she found herself attending one of the most prestigious grade schools in the country. All of her classmates were rich heirs from old money families and kids of wealthy politicians and international celebrities all that crap. Two-thirds of them were snobs, and then the decent ones took pity on her because she wasn't as rich as them and she hated that almost as much. The only ones who treated her like a friend rather than some strange new kid were Dick, Bette and Barbara.

Fifteen years later and they're still best friends.

Now Jason's one of them, too, and there are very few people other than the four of them that she cares enough about to throw punches for. She's pretty sure sleeping with Dick because she's drunk and hormonal will put a dent in their dynamic.

Okay, she's not _that_ drunk. She's not trying to cheapen any of this by claiming she is, either.

It's just that everyone in their little group knows she's notorious for one night stands, so much so that she basically mastered the walk of shame so that she's washed, dressed and ready to function within an hour of sneaking out of the room. She's had awful experiences with relationships – her parents had a nasty divorce when she was nine and all of her high school boyfriends were self-centered assholes that treated her like crap – and so she doesn't want one anytime soon, but she's only human and she wants sex, so hookups are the way to go. Besides, they exist for a reason, right? And it's not like she throws herself at just _anyone_. She has to find them halfway decent, which means a lot more than you'd think considering she's picky as hell when it comes to people. And she's always protected and takes necessary precautions. Maybe she's promiscuous, but at least she's smart about it.

But _this_ – letting Dick press her against the door and kiss her neck as his hand slides up her leg – isn't smart… like, at all. She'd be lying, though, if she said not even a tiny part of her wished something like this would happen when she agreed to be Dick's date to this out-of-town charity thing for his dad's friend, who's also paying for their hotel room.

The one they have separate from Bruce's.

_Fuck_.

He sucks on her pulse as he presses his fingers against her through her panties and actually groans at how wet she is.

"Shit, Artemis, you're—"

She practically tugs at his hair, cutting him off as she pulls him from her neck and brings their lips together. He rubs against her nerves and she gasps. It should be embarrassing how close she is to coming, especially considering they haven't really _done_ anything, but she's been soaked for a while and was waiting until she could slip away to take care of herself.

(Obviously she likes _this_ alternative a lot better right now.)

He pulls his hand away and she fucking _whimpers_ at the loss. "Dick," she complains. "Don't stop." That's practically begging for her and she's not like this, at all, _ever_.

He chuckles at her and kisses along her jawline, licks the skin below her ear and makes her moan loudly. "I'm taking you to the bed." His breath his warm against her ear as he tells her this and she digs her nails into his bicep as a shiver ripples down her spine. She shakes her head in protest – she wants him _now_ – but she's already got one leg wrapped around his hip, so he hooks the other one around him and holds her with one arm as he lifts her off of the door. She rolls her hips against where he's hard for her and he mutters, "_Fuck_."

As soon they're inside the bedroom, he presses her against the mattress and kisses her slowly.

She can feel her heart thumping in her chest. With the way they're pressed against each other, he can probably feel it, too.

"Artemis," he says against her lips. She rolls her hips against him again and he breathes, "_Shit_, just…" and pulls away just a little bit, grasping her chin with his fingers and tilting her head so that she's staring back at him. "Tell me to stop and I'll stop."

She bites her lip.

This… _this_ should be her chance to stop all of this, to go back and save fifteen (_fifteen!_) years of friendship. They can still stop right now if that's what she wants.

So she digs her nails into his arm and tells him, "Don't you _dare_ stop."

He smiles at her in response – one of his signature, stupidly happy smiles – and tugs her panties off her hips. And she's pretty sure that stupid smile doesn't leave his face for the rest of the night, especially when he sinks into her slowly and she tosses her head back and practically screams his name.

... ...

What they did was stupid.

It was sexy and hot and incredible and… and _stupid_. When she wakes up in the morning, the sun's warm against her skin and the sheets are tangled around her legs and when she stretches her entire body out, she feels sore in the best way possible. She also has the bed entirely to herself and she can't even bring herself to regret anything about last night.

(And that's probably the stupidest part to all of this.)

Not much longer after her eyes have adjusted to the light (seriously, _it's too bright_) and she's beginning to wonder (worry) about where Dick went, the bedroom door opens and Dick's wheeling a cart inside. He gives her that stupid smile of his when he sees her and it actually looks more like a smirk to Artemis right now.

That may have to do with the fact that he's got boxers and a clean, white shirt on while she's still totally naked. Right, clothes… Where'd he throw her clothes?

"Can you…" She sits herself up, which is a bigger ordeal than it needs to be because, you know, _sore_. "I need… I can't eat my breakfast _naked_."

He fucking pouts. "Yes, you can."

"Dick," she laughs.

He grins, pulls his shirt over his head and tosses it to her. It's better than nothing, at least, and really, she's content with not having to actually get up and find something clean to wear in her bag on the other side of the room. She pulls it on and tugs it as far down as it'll go (which is barely passed her hips, but whatever). He sits beside her on the edge of the mattress, pours her some coffee with a splash of creamer (they've known each other for _years_; he knows how she takes it) and hands her the mug without being asked. It's quiet for a few minutes while they're tearing into their breakfast, because she's basically starving and they totally burned off everything she ate yesterday with the all of the sex they had, so.

Then she washes the hash browns down with a gulp of coffee and lets out this sigh.

"So, last night…" He takes a bite into his blueberry muffin, raises his eyebrows. "It shouldn't have… I mean, I _wanted_ it to happen, obviously. I told you that. But it probably… It'd be better if it didn't happen… _again_, anyway. I mean, it felt _great_,but…"

She sucks at this.

"Artemis, relax," he says, and she actually does. "Don't get all anxious on me, alright? Maybe it was a mistake or maybe it wasn't. But you're still my best friend." He reaches over and wipes some whipped cream from the corner of her lips and she can't help but smile at that. "It's not going to be weird. It'll be entirely on your terms, like everything always is."

He pretends to sound bitter about that last part, and she grins and shoves his arm because she knows he's just teasing her.

She's also still a little worried that, yes, this _will_ make things weird between them and they won't be able to help it.

And because he just knows her that well, and probably knows exactly what she's thinking, he rolls his eyes. "Just stop thinking about it before you turn into Bette. It'll be fine." He smiles, flashing all of his perfect, white teeth. "We'll laugh about this someday."

She grins.

Dick's always been the best at cheering her up.

... ...

The apartment smells like pumpkin when Artemis and Barbara return from the store. It isn't the worst scent in the world, but she's glad Bette thought to light some cinnamon candles, open the windows and plug in some air fresheners before she began hallowing pumpkins.

"You've got awesome timing," Bette's saying as she plops another scoop of pulp and seeds onto the table. "I'm almost done!"

"Good because Dick and Jason are on their way," Artemis replies. "Need help getting rid of the guts?"

"Yes, please," she laughs.

So she and Barbara set the groceries down in the kitchen and Artemis puts them away while Barbara and Bette clean up the pumpkin guts. Some of it goes into Tupperware, because Bette likes using the fresh pulp to make pumpkin recipes from scratch, and the rest fills up two garbage bags which Jason and Dick will probably take down to the dumpster later.

And then they're left with literally a dozen of empty pumpkins.

Halloween's in exactly a week and they're carving their jack-o-lanterns tonight and using battery-operated candles since they live in an apartment building and obviously don't want to (and probably can't) use a real candle and leave a flame burning. And they're doing this at their apartment – the one she, Barbara and Bette moved into after two years of required college dorm life – because Jason's place is basically a hole and also in a pretty scary (aka: sketchy) neighborhood and then Dick lives in a rich building with awful, stuck-up neighbors, so.

Besides, their apartment is the best.

It's basically just a huge studio with tall ceilings and a hardwood floor, three walls of red brick and one of glass that gives them an awesome view of the city. The bathroom is literally the only place in the apartment with enclosed walls and a door. Otherwise, they have bookshelves and cabinets to separate areas, and if they do need privacy, they'll put up their dividers because it's the agreed indication that they don't want to be bothered. Artemis would normally hate the idea of not having her own room with a lock and everything, but it's different because it's Barbara and Bette. They're _so _comfortable with each other, and even when they're doing their own thing and not really talking, it's nice to not be _totally_ alone.

They have rules, too, obviously, but it's not like they have them written down or anything. They have an understanding and if anything's unclear, they just check in with each other. They split up chores and bills equally and ask before borrowing anything and always give ample warning before bringing a guy over to stay the night.

What more could a girl ask for?

Anyway.

The boys get there around 6:00 and say that they're hungry (what else is new?), so Artemis pours some chips into a large bowl and opens the 7-layer dip they just bought. She's setting them on the kitchen island when Dick shoves her shoulder playfully.

She hasn't seen him since the charity thing a few days ago, but that's not avoidance or anything. Their hours have just been crazy.

"You know what you want to carve?" she asks.

He shrugs and snatches a chip. "I saw these pumpkins that looked like a face puking out the pumpkin guts."

"Of course you'd like that." He just grins. "Well, they already bagged the guts, so if you're doing that, you'll have to go in and scoop everything out yourself."

"Noted," he laughs. "What about you?"

"I was looking at a few people did of haunted mansions. You know, with the really tall towers with gargoyles and…" She trails off, arching an eyebrow at him because he has that look on his face when he's holding back an opinion. "What, is that too cheesy or something?" His lip twitches upward, which means she's right. "Well, what do _you_ recommend?"

"I don't know. It's just that everyone does Halloween stuff to their pumpkins."

"Because it's _Halloween_," she says slowly, not sure what the problem is. Honestly, does he want someone to carve the Easter bunny or something?

He rolls his eyes. He's also laughing, though, so he can't be too offended or anything. "I _know_ that," he says, "but all that's overdone. It's _your_ pumpkin, so you should do something that makes sense to you but someone else wouldn't think of right away, right? Like a favorite character or whatever."

"Yeah, I guess."

He has a pretty good point. That happens more often than she likes considering she doesn't particularly enjoy being outsmarted by anyone, ever.

"What's your favorite movie from when you were a kid?" he asks, and she knows that's a rhetorical question because they know each other's favorite childhood movies—his is _Peter Pan_ and hers is _Alice in Wonderland_. Then he grins like he knows exactly what she's thinking and then says, "Cheshire," at the same time she does. She laughs.

"I thought the point is to think of something someone else wouldn't think of?"

He smiles at her like she's missing something. "Well… I mean, come on. It's _us_. Of course it'll be different."

(It's kind of scary how true that is.)

... ...

Applying for this country club was mostly a joke and partly because she was desperate. She was a freshman in college and looking for anything (okay, not _anything_) with a decent enough pay. She didn't want to be unreasonable, but minimum wage?

That's basically a crime.

Of course Dick's a member here. His family is, technically, but Dick's the only one that actually comes here and even then, that's only when he's with their group. Hanging out at a country club was definitely preferable over all the places their classmates were always at. (If the pictures on Facebook were anything to go by, they weren't missing much.)

So she actually hung out here a lot before becoming an employee. Most of the higher ups in staff already knew her because of that. This older guy in management called her, Bette and Barbara sweethearts and totally loved them, in sweet way rather than him just being a pedophile. They went to the private retirement party the club threw for him and everything. So, yeah, being friends with the higher ups in stuff probably played a big part in her actually getting hired, but whatever. You use what you got, right? Besides, she already knew the place pretty well and has always been a quick learner. The manager told her as much in person when he said the job was hers if she really wanted it. She'd be stupid not to take it.

She also gets paid more because she asked and (politely) listed all the reasons why she's valuable to them. She's still a floater because she actually likes having a different set of responsibilities each day, but she can sub for way more positions than the others and she's trusted with keys to more exclusive areas and everything.

It's great.

Right now she's a junior golf instructor. What that basically means is that she gives each kid a club and a few golf balls and lets them go at it while she watches from the side. She gives pointers when they ask, but the first time she did this, they told her to let them do their own thing and just make sure nobody gets hurt, so that's what she's doing.

She sees Dick leave the building, glance around until he sees her and lifts a hand in a wave.

"How's it going, Tiger Woods?" he asks when he reaches her, which makes her laugh and shake her head.

"Should I take that as an insult?"

"Not unless you find being a pro at golf insulting."

She laughs. "So, is there a particular reason you're here or did you just come here to bug me?"

"Sheesh, I'm just visiting. That's not a crime. It _is _my lunch break, after all."

"It's three o'clock."

"Okay, my second lunch break. I needed another excuse to get out of the office because paperwork is the worst. Besides, Dad's the boss, so…" He shrugs, grinning.

"Nepotism _and _an abuse of power," she says, eyebrows raised. "If you keep this up, you'll be running the company in no time."

He tips his head back a little when he laughs, and she really can't help but notice how perfectly disheveled it is. It's _always_ perfectly disheveled. It really shouldn't be considering he's in a business suit (minus the blazer and with the sleeves pushed up to the elbows, but still), but somehow he makes it work without looking halfway put together. She's had this discussion with Bette and Barbara before and Bette's convinced that his bright blue and perfect jaw structure are what ties his overall image together, so he can wear anything and not look ridiculous.

Artemis loves Bette, but the girl's kind of crazy.

Dick's just naturally confident – sometimes irritatingly so – and basically demands respect without even trying and that's why he gets away with things. He's also clever and charming as hell and has a habit of pulling a fast one on people without them noticing until it's too late. They've been treated to meals on the house more than once because of him.

"Let's go grab something to eat," he says. (Speaking of which…) "I'm hungry."

"You're always hungry," she reminds. "And I can't. I get off at five-thirty and I already took my break at noon."

"Where's your manager?"

"Dick," she laughs.

He's smiling stupidly again. "What?" he asks, feigning ignorance.

And he actually _does_ leave once he spots Mr. Bibbowski heading towards the tennis center. Artemis watches in amusement as he goes and then turns her attention back to the kids when one of them asks her for help. After another half hour of golfing, their time is up and she gets them to help her load the golf balls and clubs onto a golf cart for someone to put away. Then she walks them to the locker rooms and they change into their swimsuits while she's helping a few of the other employees open up the 18-and-younger swimming pool.

Dick's in the main building when she's back inside and he's still chatting with Mr. Bibbowski, who's standing behind the front desk.

"You mean I haven't gotten rid of you, yet?" she asks, grabbing both of their attention.

Dick smirks and shakes his head, reaches over to tug gently at her braid as he says, "Oh, right. I got you the rest of the day off. I'm such a pest."

She arches an eyebrow.

"He wore me down," Mr. Bibbowski admits with a deep chuckle. Yeah, Artemis can believe that. "Besides, don't think that I haven't notice you cutting your breaks short the last few weeks to help cover other people's shifts." He gives her a look and she just shrugs. "All that time's probably accumulated to two hours by now, so you've earned it, darling."

And, well, she really can't argue with her _boss_, right?

... ...

It only takes thirty minutes for her to cave and fifteen of those were spent on the drive back to the apartment.

The scary part is she tried _really_ hard to fight it.

He didn't exactly make it easy on her, though. His leg was pressed against hers and he had his hand on her knee, which he's always just done and she never thought too much of it before. But his fingers skimming over her skin was _all_ she could think about, no matter how hard she tried focusing on the _How I Met Your Mother_ marathon they turned the channel to. Then he turned his head towards her and she watched his gaze flicker between her eyes and her lips, until finally she tugged him by his tie and he pressed their lips together.

If this is going to keep happening whenever they're alone, she's screwed.

She moves to straddle his lap, sets her hands on the back of the couch as she swipes her tongue against his bottom lip. He lifts one hand to push his fingers through her hair and uses the other to bunch her skirt further up her legs. Bette and Barbara aren't supposed to be home for at least another hour, but there's still a very real chance one of them will walk in and, for a second, she tenses at that realization. Then Dick rubs over her bundle of nerves through her soaked panties and she dissolves into a moan, all thoughts about that – or anything else, for that matter – totally forgotten. He tugs her panties down and they stop mid-thigh, but they're enough out of the way for him to sink two fingers into her easily.

"Dick," she says, but then he rubs right next to her clit and her mouth parts as she lets out a breath. "Dick, just… just wait a second…"

He stalls his hand and she bites back a whimper.

"Did you want to stop?" he asks. He sounds sincere about it, but also like he's trying hard to restrain himself.

She shakes her head and he starts moving his fingers again, very slowly, and she digs her nails into the wooden frame of the couch. "Barbara and Bette will—"

"They won't be home anytime soon."

"I know, but—" He swipes his tongue over her collarbone and she's distracted. She has a hard time remembering what she's trying to say. He nips at her skin and she rolls her hips in response. "They'll _know_, Dick." Her voice comes out all breathy and fucked up and she feels him smirk against her skin because of it. "So we can't… at least not _here_."

"Bathroom?" he asks.

She nods, and considering he chuckles, it was probably really eager of her, but whatever. She _is_ right now and it's Dick. Even if she tried to hide it, he'd know.

He pulls his hand away and laughs softly at the noise she makes (_jerk!_), lifts her in his arms and walks them to the bathroom. She half expects him to just press her against the door like he had at the hotel, but instead he locks the door, yanks the shower curtains back and twists the water on.

"To help hide the evidence," he explains, and she's not sure if sex in the shower leaves less of a trace, but then Dick hooks his thumb over the waistband of her skirt and slants his lips over hers and she doesn't question it any further.

He tosses their clothes on the floor as he strips them both, and then she's standing under the hot water with her back pressed against his chest as he gathers her wet hair and pushes it over one shoulder. He sucks the skin at her throat and she tips her head back against his shoulder and lifts a hand to push it through his hair, tugging at the damp strands as his hand slides down her front and he sinks two fingers into her again, working slowly. She tries to roll her hips, but his other arm tightens around her to hold her in place and she moans his name. He slides his lips up her throat, swipes his tongue over the skin just below her ear as he flattens his palm against her, and her legs quiver as she moans louder.

She comes like this, pressed against him with his name echoing against the walls, because he teased over her nerves and brought her _so_ close before stopping suddenly, doing this a few times and driving her insane. Then he licked the skin below her ear and came instantly, his arm tightening to keep her steady through her orgasm.

_Shit_.

That was just…

Well, she's practically gasping for air, even as she's coming down from her high and she almost saw stars, her orgasm was so intense, so.

If every orgasm feels like that, she might never let him leave this bathroom.

He presses a kiss to her shoulder as he slides his hand up and down her arm, rubbing the warm water into her skin, which feels kind of amazing. She's also definitely aware of how hard his length is as it's pressing against the inside of her thigh, and as soon as she catches her breath, she'll do something about that.

"How was it?" he asks against her skin. He doesn't sound smug or like he needs reassurance or anything, but genuinely concerned if she liked it or not.

If he couldn't tell how much she loved it by the sounds she was making then he's not as smart as everyone claims to be.

Still, she turns in his arms, leans against him (because her legs still feel like nothing right now and she doesn't feel like slipping, thank you very much) and drapes her arms around his neck and kisses him slowly. "You're amazing," she tells him, because it _was_ and she's not above letting him know that. He gets that smile on his face again. "Are you always?"

He chuckles, so she knows he's not really offended by that.

"It could be possible."

She licks her lips. That sounds a lot like a challenge or even a promise to her.

"You know," he adds, "eventually we'll have to talk about this."

Which, yes, is true, but she looks up at him from under her eyelashes as her hand slides down his hard, wet chest.

"We could talk now," she agrees, sinking to her knees and smirking as she wraps his fingers around him and this groan comes from the back of his throat. "Or we can make the most of the time left that we have the place to ourselves and I can put my mouth to better use."

Guess which one he chooses.

... ...

Dick's gone by the time Bette gets home, but that's not because Artemis kicked him out. Bette would hardly be suspicious of the two of them hanging out alone. He just got a call from his Dad to come back to the office (which of course she teased him about) and left as Artemis got a text from Bette saying that she's on her way.

Artemis is sitting on the couch with her hair up in a braid and the TV turned onto _Mr. & Mrs. Smith _when Bette walks in, but gets up to help when she sees how much the girl's trying to carry. Bette _always_ ends up bringing work home because she has lesson plans to go over and tons of papers to grade. She takes the time to organize her notes for each day, and after that she still goes through each essay and test with an equal amount of attention and marks them thoroughly with comments and tips. And that's great for her students and everything, but it takes a lot of effort and twice as long to get through everything. She's always exhausted at the end of the day, but still manages to be cheerful rather than bitchy.

She's weird like that.

Anyway, they set her stuff onto the coffee table and Bette pulls the elastic from her hair, shaking out her ponytail. "So…"

Artemis raises an eyebrow, waiting. She expects her to ask what to make for dinner (which Artemis will offer to make instead because obviously she's got work to finish) or if Barbara said when she'd be getting home (around 7:00), or maybe even ask for some help with grading (which is _rare_ – Bette likes doing everything herself – but not totally unheard of).

Instead she asks, "Who'd you have sex with?"

"Um…"

"You think I wouldn't know?" she asks. Bette can always, _always_ tell when Artemis or Barbara just had sex. Fortunately, she seems amused about it rather than freaking out like she probably would be if she knew the guy Artemis had sex with _Dick_.

And Artemis never keeps things from her or Barbara, _ever. _Maybe menial stuff a long time ago, but that's because they were, you know, younger and stupid. But she's not exactly ready to say anything when she hasn't even talked to Dick about it yet, so she just shrugs and says, "My boss let me off work early," and knows the girl will fill in the blanks herself.

(So what if they're off?)

... ...

They try not to go out for Halloween because it's crazy as hell and every asshole downtown sees it as an excuse to be total creeps and get away with it just because they're in costume. Like, Jason's literally knocked people out for groping Bette when they didn't get leave after she told them to fuck off.

Not all of them were guys, either. Bette's always been _that_ pretty, but put her in a costume?

All hell breaks loose.

Anyway, Bette decided last night that she wanted to go out on Halloween this year. Apparently one of the teachers that's she's friends with at their school knows someone that's a pretty popular DJ and he's spinning tonight and offered to put Bette on the VIP list so she and whoever she brings can get in for free. This hasn't been the first time Bette's gotten this offer, but it's the first time she's actually going to use it. And she's not _making_ them come along, but they know she wants them to and they're not about to let her go out alone.

And seriously, no one can say no to the girl.

So Artemis puts on her old Gotham Academy uniform (she found it in the back of her closet the other day, which is weird, since it should be at her mom's, but whatever) and walks into a club with her arm linked with Bette's and at least a dozen guys blatantly checking her out.

Okay, so it's a bit of a squeeze, but that sure as hell isn't because she gained an ounce of weight that isn't muscle. She's perfectly healthy and works out each morning to make sure she stays in shape. This uniform is probably just from freshman year before her last growth spurt or something, because the skirt's a lot shorter than she remembers and she can't button her blouse all the way up because her boobs are too big. She'd definitely get sent home had it fit like this back in high school, but she's an adult now and she's only wearing it as a costume. The sad part about it, too, is that even _she_ thinks it's pretty revealing and it's still a lot more modest than the slutty costumes almost every other girl here has on.

"Wow," someone says by her ear, a hand sliding over the small of her back.

She literally almost smacks them away (which wouldn't be the first time since she got here), but then she turns and sees that it's Dick.

"Shit," she exhales. "I thought you were a creep."

"Not quite." He sits on the barstool next to hers, eyes drifting over her clothes. He's dressed as a police officer and it looks like an authentic uniform rather than those stripper-looking costumes ones, though she feels herself getting wet all the same. "You look good," he finally says, meeting her eyes again. "Talk about déjà vu."

"I know, right?" She takes another sip of her margarita. "It totally brought back memories when I put it on."

"Brings back memories, alright," he says with a laugh, and she doesn't really think anything of it until he adds, "And a few different fantasies, to be honest."

Her eyes widen.

He's smirking a bit, yes, but she can tell that he's totally serious.

"What?" Her voice sounds crappy because she literally almost choked on her drink.

"Come on, Artemis. Don't play dumb."

"I'm not _dumb_," she snaps.

He laughs, but then she glares at him and he raises his eyebrows once he realizes she's being serious. "You really didn't know?" She glares. She hates it when people are cryptic with her. "You're my best friend and everything, but you're also hot and you were in a uniform and it was just…" He shrugs. "I'm only human, Art. Obviously there were thoughts."

Well, _shit_.

She'd be lying if she said she hasn't fantasized about Dick, either, even when they were in high school and she was dating someone else. That probably makes her a horrible person, but she's always found him attractive and he said it himself: she's only human. Knowing that he's felt the same too for just as long kind of changes everything.

So she says, "I've had some thoughts, too," and kind of loves the noise he makes. "You know this thing between us?" She sets her hand over his knee and he nods when he realizes she was waiting for him to. "Let's keep doing it."

"What?"

She nods. She's thought this out seriously since they had sex in the shower a few days ago, and really, it can work. It's kind of obvious that they can't be left alone with each other anymore and still control their hormones, so even if they try to fight it, it'll just cause all of these problems and they'll have to avoid each other and the others will start to think there's drama between them. Plus, she's kind of tired of the hit and misses with her random hookups. She's always, _always_ safe, but most of the guys she's been with seem to think that _because_ it's a one-time thing they can get away with not really getting her off properly. That or they just suck in bed, but either way, she's had to fake a lot of orgasms recently.

Plus, they're friends – _best_ friends. She knows for a fact that he'll treat her properly even when they're not in bed, and obviously they've realized they can still act perfectly normal with each other with everyone else around after having had sex twice. Besides, _friends with benefits_ exist for a reason, right?

(Maybe it only ever works out in the movies, but whatever. They can do this.)

She basically tells him all of this as simply as possible and he gives her that stupid smile of his again in response. "You're sure about this?"

"Yes, I'm sure," she says, sliding her hand up his leg and hooking her finger through his belt loop. "I'm also sure that I want to hear some of those fantasies of yours."

"I'll tell you mine if you tell me yours."

She licks her lower lip and he groans a little and tugs at the hem of her skirt. "Let's get out of here."

He kisses her, just because, and then drapes an arm around her shoulders as he leads her out of the club. She's only been at this party for half an hour, but whatever. She hasn't seen Bette or Barbara since they first got here or Jason at all (he showed up with Dick), and she knows that they can take care of themselves, so they'll be fine.

Dick calls them a small limo (of course he does) and holds the door open for her as she slides into the seat, which seems sweet and everything, but then they drive off and he slides his hand up her leg and under her skirt and she bites her lower lip as she looks at the driver. They're separated by a tinted window and she can barely make out the guy's silhouette. She's pretty sure the driver can't see them, but she's still torn between being worried or completely turned on by the fact that they're doing this with a stranger only a few feet away.

Her panties are soaked and he mutters, "_Fuck_," when he realizes it.

"Dick," she breathes.

He kisses the underside of her jaw and circles his fingers slowly over her and she tips her head back and lets out a breath. Then his fingertip grazes the wet material above her bundle of nerves, and her hips snap up and she sucks in a breath as she grasps his onto leg.

"You'll have to be quiet," he says softly, his breath warm against her ear. She bites her lower lip and he tugs at her panties. "Can I take these off?"

She nods again, lifts her hips so he can slide them down her legs and over her heels. He tucks them into his pocket and moves to his knees in front of her, sets his palm against the inside of her thigh and spreads her legs further apart. She grips the edge of the leather seat as he kisses the skin right above her knee-high socks, digging her nails as he trails keeps pressing kisses higher and higher until her skirt's bunched around her waist and he licks one slow stripe up her center, stopping below her clit. She tips her head back and moans.

He chuckles and squeezes her leg a little. "I know you can't help it, but quiet, remember?"

"Shut up," she says, but it comes out breathless and not at all threatening.

Then he flattens his tongue against her and she presses the back of her hand against her mouth to stifle the sounds coming out of the back of her throat. She rolls her hips, but he presses his forearm against her to keep her in place, hooks her leg over his shoulder and as he swipes his tongue against her folds again.

"So good," he tells her.

She moans instead of responding, because there's not a coherent enough thought in her head right now to form a sentence. He starts moving his tongue against her again and teases her, circling her nerves and licking right next it before pushing his tongue inside and thrusting a few times, alternating until she's arching in the seat. Her clit is throbbing and totally aching, and when he finally sucks on it, hard and without any warning, her hips snap up and she swears she draws blood when she bites down on the back of her hand.

He works her up quickly like this, tongue flat against her nerves, and then pulls away when she's so close to the edge.

She lets out a frustrated cry and there're practically tears in her eyes.

He moves quickly (or maybe her senses are too clouded with want and hazy from her near-orgasm to fully register it) and kisses her, and she whimpers at the taste as he pushes his tongue passed her lips. Then he pulls away and places kisses along the underside of her jaw and she wants to know what he's doing and why he just left her hanging like that.

Then he whispers, "Want to know one of my favorite fantasies from high school?" and it all clicks into place.

She lets out this little noise.

"Remember that supply closet right next to the main office, with the bench along the wall?" She nods. "Imagine me going down on you, just like now, in the middle of the school day," he says, sinking to his knees again, "and you struggling to keep quiet because you know they'll be able to hear _everything_."

He has his mouth on her again before she can answer and she very nearly yelps. He teases her nerves again, brings her near the edge three more times before backing off, until she's clawing at the leather seats and growling his name and to not stop. Then he flattens his tongue against her nerves and bites down on her hand and digs her nails into the leather seats and arches her back as she lets go, her entire body shaking with her orgasm. Her eyes are shut and she swears she sees stars and he continues lapping through her orgasm, slowly as she comes down off of her high and then a little faster and faster until she's coming again, her skin on fire and her bones turning to liquid and her entire body tingling.

"Come here," she says once she finds her voice again, tugging him by his hair.

He leans up, sets his hand against the seat on either side of her and kisses her slowly, gently. It's kind of weird considering what they just did and that she can taste herself on his lips and his tongue, but that doesn't stop her.


	2. Part II

**Title: **_It'll Be Our Turn, Someday__  
_**Rating:** NC-17  
**Word Count:** ~5,400 (this chapter)  
**Characters:** Dick/Artemis  
**Summary:** _AU_. Fifteen years later and they're still best friends. She's pretty sure sleeping with Dick because she's drunk and hormonal will put a dent in their dynamic.

**It'll Be Our Turn, Someday [2/3]**

"So, there's this guy."

It's not even funny, honestly, how Bette and Artemis's eyes meet across the table at the exact same second.

The three of them are having a lazy Sunday as just the girls, because it's been a while since they've hung out as just the three of them and that's kind of stupid considering they _live_ _together_ and everything. They're also pretty tired and don't feel like going anywhere to hang out because they all had to work for most of the day yesterday and, yeah, that totally sucked. So they ordered from their favorite Thai a few blocks down from their building and have _What Not To Wear_ playing on Netflix, even though Bette's seen all the episodes already and Barbara and Artemis couldn't care less about other people's wardrobes, so none of them are actually paying attention to it right now. They just need the background noise.

"Excuse me," Bette says. "Can you say that again? I couldn't hear you."

Barbara laughs. "I met him two weeks ago—"

"_Two weeks?_" Bette repeats. "And you're only telling us now? Barbara, I thought we were best friends!"

"Ignore her," Artemis says. Bette glares. "But seriously, _spill_."

So she tells them that she ran into this guy when she was picking up lunch at this diner the other day. Like, _literally_ ran into him, because she was kind of in a hurry and ended up bumping into him when she rounded the corner. It was a quick exchange, but then she was back the next day and he started talking to her while for their food. He just moved to town and works at an elementary school near the hospital Barbara works at. She hasn't seen him every day since then, but they've talked on every day they do see each other.

This is all a bigger deal than you'd think, because Barbara's a lot like Artemis in that she doesn't really give relationships a second thought. She works long shifts and still takes a bunch of classes and so she barely has any time to give to herself, let alone another guy.

"This is _huge!_"

"Bette," Barbara laughs. "Kal's sweet and everything, but I only see him, what? Fifteen minutes every other day? It's not that big of a deal."

"Oh please, Barbie." Artemis points her chopsticks at the girl, smirking. "If it wasn't that big of a deal, you wouldn't have made it a point to tell us alone like this. And don't think I didn't notice you smiling the whole time you were talking about him. Maybe you don't like him just yet, but I can tell that you will. You just need to see him more."

"See?" Bette asks. "_Ask him out_. Even Miss Promiscuous over here has given you her blessing."

"Bette!" Artemis yelps. Barbara laughs again.

"Oh, don't be dramatic. You know I love you." Artemis rolls her eyes, stuffs some noodles into her mouth. "Anyway, you should invite him to hang out with us, Barbie."

"We should probably spend some time together first when we're not waiting in line for pick-up," Barbara says. "But you know if there's any chance I think I'd like to date him, I'll invite him over here so everyone can meet him first."

"You better."

And the three of them laugh.

... ...

Work is totally crappy on Tuesday because some of their incompetent employees kept screwing up orders and were even missing from their stations at times. She spent most of the day listening to complaints and excuses and biting her tongue whenever she wanted to tell off some bitchy member who insisted on making a big deal out of everything. Like, she _gets_ that things got screwed up and it's a bit inconvenient and of course she's going to fix it, but hell, it's not like anyone's going to die if they have to wait twenty more minutes for their lunch.

So, yeah, she's a little bit pissed off right now.

And she vents to Barbara about all of this when she's driving home from work and the girl calls her on her twenty-minute break.

"You should go and blow off steam," Barbara tells her. "Go downtown to clear your head or something. You can get a jump start on your Christmas shopping."

"I should," Artemis agrees. "But I might end up making an employee or two cry."

"Probably two _dozen_," Barbara laughs. "As long as you don't send anybody to the infirmary and create more work for me, I say go for it. Besides, I have to fill in for someone working the graveyard shift tonight and if you want to be alone, I'm sure Bette will understand and just make plans with Jason."

And because Barbara knows her so well, Artemis can tell that "be alone" probably means "take out your frustrations through sex with the first decent guy who hits on you."

She's half right, at least.

She shows up to Dick's place without asking if he's home first (she knew he would be; unless there's a meeting or he goes into work late, he always leaves the office early), says, "I'm in a bad mood and I'll explain later," before he can say anything and then kisses him, hard. He presses her against the kitchen island, bunches her skirt around her waist and sinks into her from behind because she asks him to. She curls her fingers around the edge of the marble counter and tosses her head back when his lips are on her neck and he's circling his thumb over her clit. He pulls out of her when she's so close to coming and she growls in frustration, opens her mouth to snap at him, but then he turns her and presses her with her back against the wall and her growls dissolve into moans when he's inside her again and his breath is warm against her ear when he says, "_God, _Artemis, you're so beautiful like this."

Is it stupid that it's _this_ and not the sex (well, not _just_ the sex) that makes her feel so much better?

She tells him about her shitty day later, when they actually make it to his bed and they've stopped to catch their breath. She's lying on her back with Dick on his side, facing her, his hand on her thigh as he's absently smoothing patterns over her skin. "Your boss should give you more time off for all your extra work today," he says.

She laughs. "You just want me to be here rather than at work."

"Can you blame me?"

She smirks and shakes her head. "We've talked about this, remember? We've decided not to tell the others for now and so we have to be careful."

"_You_ decided," he reminds, and she hums and closes her eyes when he presses his lips to her neck, his hand sliding up a little higher. "I just didn't argue because I'd lose no matter how right I am. And why does it matter, anyway? We hung out as just the two of us all the time before we started any of this. They wouldn't think twice about it."

"Our friends aren't stupid, Dick. They'll put two and two together eventually."

"So?" He moves so that he's over her, pressing a kiss right between her boobs, and then another one a little lower, and then a little lower, and…

"_Dick_," she breathes.

"They're our friends. They won't judge us."

"No, but…"

He nips at the skin above her pelvis and her hips shift up. "Then why?" he asks.

"There are lots of reasons," she insists, breathless.

"Great. Then you think of them while I do this," he tells her, then swipes his tongue against her wet folds and chuckles when she moans his name.

... ...

She hangs out with Jason in their apartment Friday night when Dick and Bette are both out of town.

Dick's in Japan for Wayne Tech business and Bette's visiting her grandparents in Nevada. Jason couldn't go because he couldn't get today off and fly out with Bette last night, and she comes back in the middle of the day Sunday, anyway, so it would've just been a waste to fly all the way across the country and only stay for a day. It already took some convincing on her parents' parts to get Bette to fly there herself even though she'd only be staying for two and a half days, but it's her grandmother turns _ninety. _That's obviously a pretty big deal, so Bette caved and promised she'd make the trip. So right now, they're sharing Doritos and watching a marathon of _Ridiculousness _on MTV while they wait for Barbara to come home.

"So, are you going to tell me who you're sleeping with?"

Artemis blinks.

"Bette," he explains. "She told me you're having sex pretty regularly again and we're both pretty sure it's with one guy this time, so who is it?"

"What makes you say that?" she asks.

"Since when do you ever stay the whole night after a hookup?"

"It's not a big deal."

"The same way you think Barbara's new _acquaintanceship _with that Kaldur guy isn't a big deal?" She glares and pops a Dorito into her mouth. He laughs. "Seriously, Art, this isn't… You're not thinking about dating this guy, are you? I mean, do I need to remind you of all the other assholes you've been with?"

"Jason," she laughs. "I don't need reminding how horrible I am at picking guys. And you know I'm not into relationships, alright? Don't worry."

He frowns, unconvinced, and she pops a chip into her mouth and pretends to be distracted by the TV.

Jason's always been the most protective of her. Maybe that's because he's the only one that's actually seen her get hit before. It was sophomore year at a house party and Tommy was stupidly drunk and pissed off because he thought she was being a tease or whatever. Artemis hardly remembers the details. What she _does_ remember is that she'd reached over to take the beer from his hand and Tommy smacked her. Then Jason was there like, two seconds later, punching Tommy into the kitchen island before yanking Artemis away.

The other knows _of _that night, but he actually _saw _it and so, yeah, it makes sense why he's being so skeptical right now. She hates worrying him. If he knew Dick is the one she's seeing, maybe he'd think…

Actually, she's not sure _what_ he'd think.

... ...

Dick calls her Sunday to say that his flight's delayed and he won't be in until early tomorrow morning.

She's already in his apartment, too, because she has a spare key (they all do) and she came here after some early Christmas shopping with the girls.

She was _supposed_ to be seeing him in a few hours. She'd just go back home, but she and Barbara gave Bette and Jason the apartment to themselves tonight since Barbara's staying at her dad's and Artemis had already been planning to be with Dick.

And to be honest, she isn't disappointed _just_ because they won't be hooking up tonight. Before they started this arrangement, they had less and less time to hang out as just the two of them because his dad's been giving him more responsibilities for the company and even _her_ manager is asking more of her. It's great and all because of the better payment and being trusted with more work is almost always a good thing, but still. Even now, they literally sometimes only see each other for half an hour and they're having sex for most of that. So other than when the five of them are all together, she hardly sees him. She hangs out with Bette and Barbara all the time, and she misses hanging out alone with Jason, too, but…

It's just different with Dick.

"I'm not fond of being stood up, Grayson."

She tells him this over the line, and she's mostly kidding, but not really. "I know. I'm sorry about this, Artemis," he says with a sigh, and he sounds so sincere about it that she can't really help but smile.

"I can't even go back to the apartment," she mumbles. "This really sucks."

"I already feel bad enough. You don't have to make it worse."

"Yes, I do," she says, and he chuckles to let her know that he knows she's just teasing. She smirks a little. "At least I can take care of myself."

He groans softly.

Speaking of _teasing_…

"Artemis, you can't just…" He chuckles again, more breathless this time. "I'm on the plane already."

"Excuse yourself to the bathroom, then. I'm wet and totally alone. You at least owe it to me to talk me through it."

She grabs the remote, lowers the TV so that she can barely hear anything. There's a pause over the line and for a second she thinks he's going to tell her no or something. But then she hears him tell someone – probably Bruce – that he'll be right back, and it's not even funny how much wetter she gets. He's actually going to do this?

There's more shuffling over the line, then a click, then, "You're wet already?"

"A little bit," she says. It's a huge understatement, but whatever. "Remember how your flight _to_ London was also delayed, also? And I met you here in this apartment."

He groans. "Yeah. Are you on the couch?" She hums in response and lays herself across the couch. "What're you wearing?"

She laughs, breathless. "That's so cliché."

"Right," he chuckles. "I already know what you look like without anything on. That's much better material to work with than a description of clothes I'd just be ripping off of you." The noise that comes out of the back of her throat would be embarrassing if she wasn't so turned on right now. She's wearing matching bra and panties – burgundy and lace and a gift from Bette that she hasn't worn up until now – and nothing else, and when she tells him this, he groans again and says, "You look so amazing in burgundy. Just like your graduation dress."

"You liked that dress?" She pushes her panties off, and because she now knows he thought about her like _that_ even then, she adds, "Or would you like it better on your floor?"

"Mm, just not… Not the first time." She bites down on her lower lip to keep from moaning as she rubs her fingers against herself, her center totally hot and wet. "The first time you'd still be wearing it, me in you with it pushed up around your hips. I'll bet the color would complement the blush you get in your cheeks when you come."

She moans, loudly, and sinks her fingers into herself when he tells her to. She can picture him in the bathroom with a hand around his length and she'd ask if that's exactly what he's doing – his breathing's all fucked up and heavy and his voice is totally gravelly – if these little sounds weren't coming from the back of her throat as she flattens her palm over her clit and moves her fingers faster inside herself, imagining that they're this. And she wonders if he must have this sixth sense or something, because she's so, _so close_ when he tells her to stop, and she very nearly growls in frustration. She listens, though, even when he tells her to pull her fingers out and circle her clit slowly, and she can't help the whimpers that she's making. He's not even _here_ and she's so close to begging. Actually, she's pretty sure that's exactly what he wants, and she's desperate enough that she actually does.

"Dick, pleasejust… I'm so…"

"Okay," he says, and she rubs her fingers over her nerves and with these loud moans coming out of her mouth and Dick's voice in her saying, "You sound so amazing, baby."

He's never called her that before – _baby_ – and she comes, hard, as soon as she hears it.

When she's come down from her high, she presses the phone back against her ear in time to hear Dick mutter, "_Fuck_. Fuck."

She grins. "I'm guessing it was good for you, too."

"It's _you. _Of course it was good." She bites her lower lip, unable to keep from smiling even wider. "You're much better at it, though, babe. I miss you."

And maybe it's because her head's still dizzy from her orgasm, but rather than teasing him about it or calling him out on the fact that he keeps using pet names, she says, "Miss you, too," and means it in more ways than one.

... ...

"_God_, Dick," she moans.

Dick groans and then kisses her, angles his hips and sinks into her even deeper, making her arch against him. "You have to be quiet, baby," he says against her lips. The last time he said this to her was on Halloween in the back of the limo and she digs her nails into his arm at the memory, letting out this whimper.

They're at her _work_ right now and no matter how much her bosses love her, she could _definitely_ get fired if they find out.

She's not even on her break. They're letting her run the tennis center by herself (meaning she's the only manager, not that there aren't employees to help) and when Dick showed up at the beginning of his lunch hour, she still had forty-five minutes before she's supposed to open the doors. They're in the employee bathroom in the back, which is locked, but it's next to the storage room and there are a few people running around that could definitely pass by and hear something if she's not quiet. She's not even sure how they ended up like this, but the next thing she knew, she was locking the door behind them and letting him hoist her onto the bar along the wall, tossing her head back as he rolled his tongue against her.

"You're close," he tells her, and she nods a little frantically.

Then she whimpers, "_Dick,_" over and over again as her muscles clench around him, letting out this mewl when she feels him coming seconds after her, and he pushes his fingers through her hair and kisses her as they're both coming down from their orgasms.

She makes this pathetic sound when he pulls out of her, literally slumps against the wall for support as he goes to toss the condom. After they've cleaned themselves up and straighten their clothes, she's only got four minutes before the tennis center opens and Dick has a text from Bruce reminding him about a meeting right after lunch.

"There's this benefit brunch on Thursday," he says as she's twisting her hair up. "Mr. Bibbowski said you can get the morning off for it."

"What?" she laughs as she meets his eyes through the reflection. "You haven't even asked me yet."

"You don't want to go?"

"No, I'll go. But I definitely would've made you work for it." He chuckles, slides his hand over her hip. "What should I wear?"

"Well, Alfred already picked out something that he insisted you should wear," he says. She raises an eyebrow, amused, and turns around to face him. "Relax. He's got classy taste, remember?" Then he grasps her chin with his fingers, kisses her in the middle of her forehead and mumbles, "I'll see you after work."

"Okay," she says, and the smile she gets doesn't leave her face for the rest of the day.

... ...

Thursday, she puts on a blue sundress with little yellow flowers and white detailing (it really _is _gorgeous) and sits in a garden full of socialites.

It's only the four of them – her, Dick, Bruce and his girlfriend, Selina – at their table, and it's actually relaxing because they can sit down and eat rather than having to make casual conversation for an hour before they can get anything other than tiny sandwiches and cheese with crackers into their stomachs. Plus, she's always loved hanging out with Dick's family. Bruce is really humble considering he grew up privileged and wealthy, and he can be scary at times, yeah, but he's mostly just a huge sweetheart and just tries to convince everyone he's not. And Selina's always been Artemis's favorite of Bruce's girlfriends. She's sarcastic and hilarious and just a lot of fun to be around, and kind of perfect, honestly.

They're really good together and have been for the last twelve years they've been together. She doesn't really know what's keeping them from getting married, unless they're just one of those couples that feel they don't need to, which is fine, but she always pegged Bruce as the type that would want a traditional ceremony and everything.

Anyway.

She sits next to Dick, steals bites of his food and sips of his drink and doesn't mind it so much when he rests his arm on the back of her chair. She realizes what this probably looks like to everyone, but whatever. It doesn't mean anything.

And when some heiress walks up to their table and tries to flirt with Dick while they're still eating, maybe Artemis totally steals Dick's attention (which Artemis knows he was only giving to the girl because he's too polite) by wiping a spec of butter off of the corner of Dick's mouth and then locking their eyes together as she licks her thumb clean.

The girl kind of huffs and stomps away as best as she can in her stilettos, and no, that doesn't mean anything, either. Artemis isn't jealous.

She just doesn't need any of these girls thinking they have a chance with Dick.

... ...

He takes her out on a date.

Well, sort of.

She hasn't seen him since the benefit last Thursday because they've both been really busy. She visited her mom over the weekend and then she's been staying at work late and going straight home afterward because she's totally exhausted. He hasn't been able to visit during his breaks, either, since he's been swamped at work and actually stays in the office the whole day because there's a cafeteria in the building and so he just grabs food from there and works through his lunch hour. And the only reason she knows this is because they've been texting, which is the only real communication they've had all week, but even then, neither of them ever reply right away because they get distracted by other things.

He called after she left work and asked if she was busy tonight. She's tired and probably shouldn't be going anywhere, but this is the first he's offered all week to hang out and she doesn't realize how much she wants to see him until she's agreeing to have dinner with him.

"Nothing too fancy," she says as she's walking towards her car. "It's been a while since I've been to a nice dinner but I don't feel like dressing up."

"What about dinner at my dad's? Alfred's making your favorite—peach cobbler. Plus, it's fancy enough to be like restaurant but we can still wear whatever we want."

"You had me at peach cobbler."

He laughs and says he'll pick her up in half an hour.

She changes into a pair of leggings and a sweater dress, because it's comfortable but doesn't make her look like a total slob, and then texts Bette and Barbara to let them know that she'll be back late. (She wonders what they think when she goes out like this. If they've been suspicious, they haven't said anything.)

The mansion – yes, _mansion_ – looks exactly as she remembers it when they were eight and she'd stay over after school and gymnastics practice until her mother got off of work. Alfred's waiting for them at the top of the steps when they walk in, smiles when she kisses him on the cheek and tells her that he's missed having her around. Bruce, Selina, and Dick's little sister, Cassandra, are waiting for them in the study, and Cassandra's entire face lights up when she sees Artemis in the doorway. Dick and Artemis were in middle school when Bruce came home from a business trip in China with six-month-old Cassandra and a bunch of adoption papers. The girl's pretty soft-spoken and kind of shy, especially with strangers, but she's a total sweetheart. And honestly, she looks totally adorable with her long hair in a braid (probably Alfred's doing) and wearing her Gotham Elementary uniform.

"Look at you," Artemis says, smoothing her hand over Cassandra's hair. "You look better in that uniform than I did."

Cassandra giggles as she shakes her head. "But you're a lot prettier than I am, Artemis," she insists, and then tugs on the hem of Artemis's dress a little as she adds, "Can you stay over after dinner, too?"

"Of course, Cass," Selina tells her. "Artemis is always welcome here."

Bruce nods, takes Artemis's hand in his and kisses her knuckles before announcing, "Let's eat."

Alfred leads them down the hallway towards the dining room (even Artemis is pretty sure they all know where it is), and Dick walks beside her behind the others with his hands in his pockets and an amused smile on his face. Artemis laughs softly to herself, shakes her head a little and asks, "How did that… I mean, I guess I'm staying over after dinner?"

Dick chuckles. "Why? Did you not want to?"

She laughs and calls him crazy.

She sits next to Cassandra at the dinner table because the girl asks her to, and Dick sits across from her and she catches him smiling whenever Cassandra whispers something into her ear or asks about what they did in Gotham Elementary when they were her age. They eat and talk about what Cassandra's learning in school and then a little bit about Wayne Enterprises, and when Alfred brings out dessert, Cassandra takes his hand in hers and asks him to sit down and eat with them, and like, it's _literally_ impossible to say no to the girl.

Then they move to the den, drink wine (hot chocolate for Cassandra) and play cards, and it's nice. She feels comfortable and totally relaxed, and at one point, Dick started playing with her hair while she's talking with Selina and Artemis didn't totally hate how it felt.

At 8:00, Alfred announces that it's time for bed and Cassandra goes around and gives them each a kiss on the cheek.

"Come visit soon?" she asks Artemis in this soft voice, looking up at her through her long eyelashes, and _fuck_, this girl is too charming for words.

"Of course, Cass," Artemis promises, kissing her forehead. "Sleep tight."

She smiles and nods, then takes Alfred's hand and swings it between them as they leave. Artemis leans against Dick's side a little and they talk with Bruce and Selina about their trip to Florence, which they'll be leaving for in the morning tomorrow, so it's not even half an hour after Cassandra's left that Selina says they ought to get to bed, too.

When they're finally left alone, Artemis bites her lower lip and tilts her head up to find Dick giving her that stupid smile of his.

"What?" she asks.

He shrugs a shoulder. "My family totally loves you."

"Well, they can't exactly help themselves…"

He chuckles, fingers curling over her hip. "They're not the only ones."

"Yeah?" she asks.

He hums lowly and runs his thumb over her bottom lip, skimming it over her cheekbone before tucking his fingers through her hair and then pressing their lips together. This little noise comes from the back of her throat as she grasps onto the front of his shirt and kisses him a little harder.

It's really warm in the room and she's pretty sure it has nothing to do with the fire burning in the fireplace a few feet away from them, but instead of thinking about it, she focuses on Dick's lips against hers and his fingers pushing the hem of her dress up. Everything about this time feels… _different_. He moves slowly and takes his time working her up, even though his family is literally in the next room and they shouldn't be doing this where any of them can walk in and see. But she can't really think about anything else when his skin against hers feels like flames and his warm breath sends tingles down to her bones and her heart beating in her chest is all she can hear, and she's literally shaking as he presses her body close.

"Artemis… condom…"

She shakes her head, a tear slipping down her temple and dissolving into her hair. "Like this," she breathes, running her fingers down his back, loving the way his eyes darken a little and he shudders ever so slightly. "I trust you."

She _does_. She really does. She trusts him and she's on the pill and it's not the wine talking.

She _wants_ this.

So he sinks into her slowly and she lets out a soft cry. He presses their lips together when she's so, so close, rolls his hips slowly against hers through her orgasm until she's gripping onto him tighter, groan as her muscles clench around him and she's letting go again. He keeps kissing her, which she thinks is partly to keep her quiet but mostly because he can't help it, and it's intense when she comes, hard, for a third time because he's letting go just seconds after that and only pulls his lips from hers when they're both gasping for breath.

When he drives her home later and pulls up in front of the building, he combs his fingers through her hair and pulls her closer, kissing her softly.

"Thanks for dinner," she says against his lips, and he smiles and kisses her a little harder because he knows she means more than that.

... ...

"So, spill."

Artemis looks up from the sink and finds her sister standing there, a knowing smirk on her face.

"Aren't you supposed to be helping me here?" Artemis asks teasingly.

Jade rolls her eyes, but exhales, "_Fine_," all dramatically as she saunters (_literally_; Jade has always had confidence in spades and even the way she walks belongs in a fashion show) over. Artemis chuckles when Jade pushes her out of the way a little, reaching over for the towel so she can dry the dishes that Artemis is washing. There's not a lot to clean up after since it's always just the seven of them for Thanksgiving lunch: her and Jade and their mom, plus Jade's husband Roy, their daughter Lian, and Roy's parents Oliver and Dinah. "So, _talk_, and don't try to play dumb because I _know_ you. Who're you sleeping with and how incredibly great is he in bed that it's got you walking around like you're actually in love?"

"Jade," Artemis laughs.

She arches an eyebrow, waiting.

Artemis smiles and shakes her head, grabbing another plate. "It's Dick."

"I know, but _which one?_"

"Jade!"

They're both laughing now, Jade leaning away when Artemis teasingly tries to splash her with soap. "Wait… Dick… You mean the one you're _best friends_ with?" Artemis shrugs a little but nods. "So is this like one of those friends-with-benefits kinds of things or did you two _finally_ get your shit together and start dating?"

"We're not dating," Artemis corrects, giving her a look. "And what do you mean by 'finally'?"

"Oh, please," Jade laughs. "You two had so much sexual tension growing up and it was really weird to be around considering you guys were like, twelve at the time."

"We didn't have any sexual tension."

"_Yes_, you did. I can tell without even hearing any details that he's probably the best sex you've ever had," Jade declares. "I know that from experience and everyone will tell you. It's always amazing to finally give into sexual tension. It also ruins sex with anyone else for you, so you better hope that he's the one. That's how I ended up with Roy… and Lian."

"I didn't need to hear that part," Artemis says, feigning a disgusted look as she shoves Jade away. "And it's not like that between us."

"If it isn't, then you're probably lying to yourself."

Artemis rolls her eyes and hands her the plate she just washed and doesn't say anything else.

She hates that Jade is always right.


End file.
